Introducing Students to A Writing Life

Muriel and I were just talking about how we begin our school year and agreed that we usually waited a couple of weeks before introducing students to writer's notebooks and writer's workshop, but you will know what is the right time for you. Perhaps, you'll focus on writer's workshop second semester or a particular time period during the year, or maybe you've already started. Whatever the case, the next few entries to our blog will focus on the particulars of writing in the classroom.

Of course, because of the pandemic, writer's notebooks may be hard to monitor and collect. I loved the idea of students leaving their writer's notebooks in the classroom, available to pick up before class. This was an excellent way for students to record lessons on writing, do rough drafts, and respond to prompts as well as try out different writing techniques. It was a way for me to check for understanding of concepts presented. As far as grading, if the work assigned was completed, everyone received the same score, and I didn't check /grade notebooks more than once every couple of weeks. Generally, I didn't read most of the entries. The grade was basically for completing the work.

There are many ways to store notebooks in the classroom, but I usually had bins at the front of the room for each class, and students picked them up as they entered the room, so it was available to them when needed. Now, of course, that is not feasible. Even without the pandemic, some teachers and students have preferred online notebooks, journals and portfolios. That is where we are at today. As long as students have access to the internet, and a word processing program, they are set. It will be up to you to help them with storage and organization of their writing so that it's easily accessible. Please share ideas with our readers as to how you have accomplished this with your students.

“Keep a notebook. Travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it, slap into it every stray thought that flutters up into your brain.” — Jack London

So, what goes in a student's writer's notebook and how is it used? Again, this can vary from classroom to classroom, teacher to teacher. Jack London is speaking to writers - we, as teachers, are creating writers and introducing our students to a writing life. Some will thrive with the notebooks, others struggle to get a thought down. Over the next few weeks, we will be giving you ideas to get students thinking and writing, ways to take pieces from the notebook into finished essays, and ways to continue building classroom community through writing.

We would love to post some of your favorite websites, uses for notebooks, and ways you use to create a writing life in your students, so stay in touch and let us know what is working for you.

Micki

My Neighborhood - Introduction Activity

 Each year, when I was teaching, I would spend endless hours over the summer planning new ways to engage my students in the fall. Most of that time was curriculum-based. One summer, for at least six weeks, I co-developed a Shakespeare unit based on "A Midsummer Night's Dream." It was fun to develop, and I was sure, would be fun to present to students. Another time, I developed an interdisciplinary unit based on the novel, Shizuko's Daughter, complete with an authentic Japanese tea party on day one. Both units did go over well, but I'm confident that it was not just because of the unit content, but because my students, at the time, had become eager learners, assured that they would be heard and that the class was a place of safety and respect.

So how can we present meaningful content at the beginning of the year and use the same content to promote a respectful and engaging classroom? Try introducing short stories or essays that focus on growing up - situations that students can identify with - situations that resonate with them and will get them talking - and writing. "A Game of Catch," by Richard Wilbur is a favorite and can be used with a wide age range from middle school through high school because of the questions it ultimately raises. Or, take a chapter from a book of vignettes like A House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Perhaps it will be a book that you will read later in the year but for now, it will be used in a get-acquainted activity. 

In one chapter titled, "My Name," Cisneros recites everything she knows about her name: "hope," "sadness," "waiting." She talks about who she was named after and how the teachers mispronounced her name at school. Names are always good topics to focus on, but what I also like about the book is her focus on her street, her neighborhood.

A favorite activity of my students was to make a neighborhood map. It became a great way for them to introduce themselves to a partner. It can also be a great first writing activity. To present it, I read a bit from Mango Street and then talked about the neighborhood I lived in when I was growing up. I drew a map while I talked and pointed out:

    • Who lived where

    • The secret places

    • Where my friends lived

    • Where the weird people lived

    • Where my brother's/sister's friends lived

    • Off-limits places

    • etc.

When you present this activity, give your students time to hear the story selection and talk about it; time to listen to the account of your neighborhood and see your map; time to develop their own map and share some of it with a partner; time to put some of their map story into a short piece of writing.

This activity accomplishes so many purposes: introducing something about yourself, engaging students, developing classroom climate; and providing early writing samples, etc.

Enjoy!...Tell us how this works out with your class...

Engaging students, continued!

One learns by doing the thing; for though you think you know it, you have no certainty until you try. --Sophocles

In an earlier post, I wrote about how important it is to take the time to develop an environment of trust so that your writers will be willing to share, respond, accept suggestions, and work on revising.  As this new school year begins, we have been posting some ideas for creating a learning community in the classroom.

Here are a couple more that you might like to try.

Names

Our names are important to us.  We have meanings, feelings, and memories associated with them.  Take some time to explore your name.  

• Do you know how you were named?  Were you named for anyone special?  

• Does your name have a family history?  

• Investigate the meaning/origin of your name on the internet. 

• Do you have any interesting stories/memories about your name?  

• Do a quick write/a free write about your name. 

• Introduce yourself and the name you would like to use.

Coat of Arms/Family Crest

Recently I received an inquiry from one of my brothers seeking some information on our family crest.  I remembered that my folks had one on the fireplace, but no one seemed to have that one now.  After contacting several relatives, he was able to locate a picture with some specific information.  Our crest includes the origin of our family name, our motto, a symbol, and colors associated.  

A crest/shield is a group of emblems and figures arranged on and around a shield that serve as a visual representation of interests, achievements unique to a person, family or organization.

Create an individual coat of arms that identifies you.  This coat of arms could include activities, hobbies, favorite food, favorite music, a motto you follow, etc. (I would recommend brainstorming categories with the class.)  Don’t feel you need to be artistic; you can use a template from the internet (such as this one) and simply insert information or pictures. 

Wishing you much joy and success in this new school year.  If you have activities you would like to share, please add a comment to our post.

Response to Engaging Students

 “Writing helps us convey ideas, solve problems, and understand ourselves and our changing world.  

            Writing is a bridge to the future.”– NWP

 One of my favorite activities for getting students to know one another is to pair students for an interview activity.  If possible, have students work with someone they don’t already know. (If you are working online, you can set up the pairs.)  It also works effectively if the instructor first demonstrates the activity by participating with a student.

Brainstorm possible questions – family traditions, favorite subjects, favorite childhood memory, family traditions, etc.  (10 minutes)

1. Take turns interviewing each other. (10 minutes)
2. Write a paragraph about partner highlighting a key trait or something unique. (10 minutes)
3. Introduce partner by reading paragraph.

In an earlier entry, I shared the 3-sheet writing activity.  This activity could certainly be used for students to interview each other. Also, this activity could be a self-interview.

ANOTHER POSSIBILITY 

1. First introduce yourself to your students by demonstrating how to construct a web of favorite activities, hobbies, pets, foods, music, etc.   

      

2. Then students create own webs.
3. Pair students (mix as much as possible with unknown partners).
4. Partners interview each other, noting ways in which they are alike and ways they are different.
5. Incorporate findings into a Venn diagram to illustrate similarities/differences.

 

6. Partners collaborate to write two paragraphs: one student writes about their differences; the other one focuses on their similarities. Then they introduce each other to the class using their paragraphs as guides. 

SUGGESTION:  TAKE PICTURES OF THE STUDENTS AS THEY SHARE TO DISPLAY.

Finally, check out these two excellent resources:

https://www.boredteachers.com/classroom-ideas/21-social-distance-friendly-and-virtual-icebreakers-students-will-actually-have-fun-with

https://writenow.nwp.org/designing-for-teaching-writers-online-aeec68be7b0

 

Engaging Students

Engaging Students. Isn't that what our goal is? When my students have been engaged, I knew they were thinking and processing the work at hand. If students can pursue their own interests, engagement isn't usually a problem, but that isn't always possible, and we don't know them well enough at the beginning of the year to introduce something of interest to them. We don't know what our student's interests are, and they don't have enough information about the class and us as their teachers to know whether they will be interested or not.

Again, the answer to all of this is community building. We need to find out our students' likes and dislikes, their past experiences in and out of school. One of my favorites and that of past MWP participants, is a class quilt. I have used this numerous times with great success. If you are teaching online/Zoom, this will work best the second or third day of class, because students will have to gather materials. (If you are in school, classroom teachers can furnish materials.)

At the bare minimum, students will need a pencil and two 8x10 sheets of blank paper. A variety of materials is even better. Giving them a list, similar to the following will help them gather items related to who they are as a person and student.

Quilt Materials:
2 sheets of paper (white or colors)
pencil, pen, markers, crayons, colored pencils or sharpers - (whatever is available)
glue, stapler or tape
scissors

Steps to Completion: (Demo a day ahead so that students have an idea of possible materials)
1. Take one sheet of paper and draw your Initials on the front, tall and wide enough that they can be cut out. 
2. Decorate the remainder of this sheet with cutouts, drawings, phrases that symbolize who you are.
3. Glue, Tape, or Staple this sheet to your second sheet to complete your quilt square.
4. Take a photo of your picture and send it to your teacher
5. Teachers will connect all photos to make a class quilt.

Students can work on this in class the following day, online, with you checking on them individually as they work. Maybe a few will be willing to talk about their process with the rest of the class. Be sure to check in with each student. 

Once the quilt is complete, it can be used over a period of time to have students introduce themselves to each other through talking about their own quilt square.

 The greatest value of this quilt is in showing students how important they are to the makeup of the class. Show them that when one square is removed, the class is no longer complete...that the beauty of the quilt and their class is that everyone has a place, and that when one piece is missing, the quilt is no longer complete.

Share your thoughts on this activity and others you have had success implementing.